Teacher Appreciation - 2012!

Ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week

Editors Note: Original post updated for 2012 with more ideas!

Teacher Appreciation Week is just two weeks away...are you ready?! Teachers work hard all year (for way too little pay) and are charged with the awesome responsibility of guiding our children's learning and inspiring their passions. They definitely deserve a week in the spotlight!

Some schools go all out and plan daily celebrations with banners, raffle prizes, luncheons and fanfare. Others take a more personal approach and invite parents and students to write thank you notes and send small remembrances to their beloved teachers.

If you don’t have plans yet, or are looking for an idea or two to round out the week – we’ve got you covered! We know that choosing a sweet surprise for teachers is not as challenging as planning the actual event and coordinating volunteers. Never fear! VolunteerSpot has you covered on that front too! We want to make sure that your teacher appreciation week planning is simple and stress-free.

Cindy H.M., a 4th grade mom in Asheville, NC sums it up:

“VolunteerSpot made it so easy to sign up to bring items for our teacher breakfast. What an easy way to be a working mom and stay involved! Great site!! Thanks for finally having something like this for all to use - and it's free!!”

Here are a few simple, tried and tested appreciation ideas that are sure to make your teachers smile and feel loved!

Adopt-a-Teacher – Parents and administration take turns watching the class during the week so teachers can go out for a nice lunch. Ask a local restaurant to provide a special teacher discount.

Community Bouquet – On a designated day, each student brings one flower (paper, from the garden or store...anything goes) to add to a class bouquet.

Home Cooked Dinners – One family per day arranges to provide a home-cooked meal for the teacher to take home. Even something as simple as a pasta casserole and a green salad makes a teacher's day of appreciation carry over to her home.

Morning Surprise – Every morning a different parent brings the teacher a steamy cuppa joe and breakfast treat (here in Texas it's gotta be a hot breakfast taco!). Teachers will be boosted with enough energy and love for the rest of the day!

Random Acts of Kindness – Perform random acts of kindness for teachers. Whether it’s cleaning the classroom windows or reading to the class for an hour so that the teacher can take a break during the day, they will definitely feel appreciated.

Teacher Lounge-O-Plenty – Families and local businesses can donate an array of baked goods and fruit to keep the teachers’ lounge totally packed with goodies all through the week.

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We paper each teacher's door with butcher paper and ask kids to graffiti it with thoughts of kindness for their teachers throughout the week. (K-5). It's really sweet what they come up, keepers for sure!

There are many ways to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, so beginning May 1st CanaryVoice will collect and screen voice messages from people across the country and make these available for everyone to HEAR the
practical and emotional impact of education from parents and children. Adding to your gift ideas a CD of kids positive comments for their teachers!!

We are doing a book for our class teacher of handwritten notes from each student with their picture and then at end of notes we are putting a class picture in it and giving her a small gift everyday up to the big day of presenting her with the book.